Chapter 116

After chatting for a while, Madame Ping left with Yaoyao.

Xia Zhi rose to see them off at the door, watching as they walked toward the neighboring Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, his mind filled with speculation.

Madame Ping, as the adeptus Streetward Rambler, was one of the mighty and illuminated adepti who followed Rex Lapis in battle.

Legend had it that the Archon War was extremely brutal. Many gods fought for positions - some perished, some were sealed beneath the sea at Guyun Stone Forest, and others fled overseas. In the end, Morax claimed godhood, becoming one of the Seven, and established Liyue in this land.

In other words, during the thousands of years after the Archon War, Liyue should have had only one god - Morax.

But now another god suddenly appeared - Mr. Zhongli, who happened to be friends with Madame Ping...

Xia Zhi had indirectly asked Hu Tao and learned that Mr. Zhongli had only joined Wangsheng Funeral Parlor in the past two years.

And Rex Lapis had his incident just recently, which meant that when Mr. Zhongli joined Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, Rex Lapis was still watching over Liyue from the shadows. He couldn't have been unaware of another god entering his territory.

But Rex Lapis's tacit approval meant there must be some relationship between Rex Lapis and Mr. Zhongli.

Perhaps the two gods knew each other, and Rex Lapis, planning to undergo his trial but uncertain of success, worried about chaos in Liyue after his potential demise and brought in Mr. Zhongli as a backup to stabilize the situation.

Or perhaps Rex Lapis didn't actually perish in his trial, but used this opportunity to transform Liyue from "rule by god" to "rule by people," becoming Mr. Zhongli himself to wander the mortal world...

Both guesses were possible, but Xia Zhi leaned toward the latter.

As for reasons, Morax's passing during the Rite of Descension was too coincidental. 

The phenomena that should have occurred when a god perished didn't appear. 

The Geo elemental power he controlled should have become chaotic, causing not just landslides throughout Liyue but at least some small earthquakes, yet nothing happened. It was bewildering.

Xia Zhi didn't believe Mr. Zhongli could have secretly suppressed such phenomena - if he had that ability, he should have been Rex Lapis long ago.

So, was Mr. Zhongli actually Morax?

Xia Zhi turned thoughtfully, closed the door, and returned to the shop.

The girls were diligently washing dishes and soaking dried ingredients for the evening.

"Boss, do we need to buy more ingredients?"

"Yes, since more people are coming for dinner than lunch, we'll need to make more dishes."

"Then we'll go buy some! Any specific ingredients needed?"

"Like this morning, just buy what looks good. As long as it's fresh and good quality."

"Okay!"

Zhu Zi and Ganyu wiped their hands and hurriedly left together. Though it was past noon and the market produce wouldn't be as fresh as morning, going earlier would give them a better chance at finding fresher ingredients.

Xia Zhi sat at the table and "looked" at Qiqi, noticing her eyes seemed more animated than before.

It must be the effect of that corpse pearl.

Shenhe was cleaning in the kitchen, leaving only Xia Zhi and Qiqi in the front hall.

The incense burner on the table was smoking gently. Qiqi leaned slightly toward it, softly sniffing, seemingly unable to get enough of the fragrance.

Xia Zhi thought for a moment and said, "Miss Qiqi, I've recently developed two new types of incense. Would you help me evaluate them?"

Qiqi turned her head and nodded: "Okay."

Xia Zhi took out a [Perfect Recovery Incense], cut off a tiny piece, opened the burner, and put it in.

The fragrance from the burner hadn't changed, but something seemed different about it.

"How does Miss Qiqi feel?"

"The fragrance became... tastier."

"Besides the taste, do you feel anything else?"

"Seems like... my strength is increasing."

"I see."

Xia Zhi then took out a [Perfect Joy Incense], similarly cut off a small piece, and added it to the burner.

"How does Miss Qiqi feel this time?"

"Feel... happy."

"Anything else?"

"Feel like... Mr. Xia... looks very handsome."

"..."

Qiqi stared steadily at Xia Zhi.

Xia Zhi paused, silently putting away the second piece of incense.

This incense made with succubus hair indeed had improper effects. Fortunately, he only used a tiny bit for testing.

He definitely couldn't burn this in the bedroom at night, or he might really experience ghost possession.

"How about now?"

"That feeling... disappeared."

"Good."

Xia Zhi nodded and handed the first [Perfect Restoration Incense] to Qiqi.

"Since Miss Qiqi likes it, this incense is also for you."

"Thank you, Mr. Xia."

"You're welcome."

Qiqi held the incense in her hand, feeling its faint remaining warmth, unable to help remembering that strange feeling of joy and desire from before.

At that moment, something seemed to have stirred in her heart.

She had never experienced such feelings before. It was strange, but not unpleasant.

"Is Bubu Pharmacy seeing patients today?"

"Yes."

"Dr. Baizhu works hard too."

"Mr. Baizhu's health... isn't very good."

"Oh?"

"At night, I often hear... Mr. Baizhu coughing in his room."

"Is he sick? Has it been long?"

"Mr. Baizhu... has always been like this, very weak."

Xia Zhi found it ironic that Liyue's most skilled doctor was so frail, reminding him of the saying "doctors can't heal themselves," but he felt there was something strange about Baizhu.

"I heard Dr. Baizhu has a white snake around his neck."

"That's... Changsheng."

"Changsheng?"

"Yes, that's its name."

"Changsheng..."

For a weak person to give their pet such a meaningful name - Changsheng meaning "long life" - hoping for longevity, it was understandable.

"Changsheng... can talk."

"? It can talk?"

"Yes, Changsheng is very smart. It seems to like the incense smell, so I shared half of my incense with it."

"I see..."

A white snake that could speak human language was no ordinary animal - it must be a spiritual being.

However, Xia Zhi remembered that when he visited Bubu Pharmacy and saw Baizhu, he only saw a silver progress bar on Baizhu.

The spiritual snake had no progress bar at all.

This situation seemed unreasonable.

Cloud Retainer couldn't speak but had a progress bar. Guoba couldn't speak but also had a progress bar. Yet Changsheng could speak but had no progress bar.

Could it be like Xiangling, part of that small probability group without treasure chests?

Xia Zhi was silent for a moment, suddenly remembering Changsheng's round pupils and Baizhu's vertical pupils.

That seemed like some kind of mysterious eye-exchanging ritual.

Perhaps...

It wasn't that Changsheng had no progress bar, but rather in the system's judgment, Changsheng and Baizhu were viewed as one entity, which was why Baizhu only had one progress bar.

Perhaps Xiangling also wasn't without a progress bar, but due to some similar reason, the system viewed her and Guoba as one entity, thus showing only one progress bar.

Xia Zhi couldn't help but think of the [Thread of Fate] he had obtained.

Could it be because of... some kind of symbiotic contract?

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